Pure Perfection
by GrayRobin
Summary: Jerome felt a connection to Natalie. He wasn't sure why or how, but he was sure that no one would ever touch a hair on her head. As he gets to know her, he slowly becomes more and more infatuated with her and eventually begins to love her. But a psychopathic criminal loving a completely sane person won't come without complications.
1. Prologue

Natalie's body hurt. She could feel every bruise and cut on her pale, sensitive she had gained from her last beating from her father. The aching and stinging sensations followed her through out the day, reminding her of what waited for her when she returned home for the night. This is why she spent every hour she could after school at the coffee shop around the corner 'doing homework', even though that was finished about an hour ago. Of course, she would eventually have to return home to her father. The beating would only get worst if she didn't and she would be accused of whoring around just like her mother.

You see, her father wasn't always a horrible man. He was actually quite loving at one point in her life. He used to kiss her on her youthful, ten year old cheeks everyday and tell her how much he loved his baby girl with all his heart. But that was the past, before her mom slept with some poor bastard from the slums of Gotham. After that her father kicked her mother out and filed for a divorce and she hasn't seen her since. That was approximately six or seven years ago. To him she was no longer his baby girl that he loved with all his heart, but instead some mistake that only served as a reminder of his cold-hearted whore of an ex wife.

Natalie missed those days. The days when her father would have the maids make her the most delicious chocolate chip pancakes on Saturday morning before watching Looney Toons with her. The days when he would kiss her knee better after scrapping it on the pavement and would even help her clean it up. Those days were her last memories of being happy.

Now she just had to prance around like everything was perfect in her world, regardless of the fact that it wasn't. To the rest of the world money seemed to fix anything, even her broken family. Well, that's what happens when your father is one of the most famous politicians in Gotham. She has to spend her time at pointless balls and charity events just for publicity. It was her job to tell the world about how great her father was, all hell would break loose if she didn't say the correct lines she was told.

She was lonely most of the time as well now a days. Besides her father and the maids who work at her home, she doesn't have much interaction with others. It's that she doesn't want to make friends, its just that it's pretty hard to keep a stable relationship with anyone if your constantly trying to hide the fact that your father beats you in his spare time. So she gave up on making friends at the young age of twelve.

Her life seemed to become a horrible, endless cycle. She went to school hiding the bruises under her uniform and makeup. School life wasn't that bad for her I guess you could say; many people didn't attempt to talk to her or make fun of her to her face, but she always heard the whispers about what ever rumors they had come up with about her that week. Then she was forced to go home to her father who often beat her for small, insignificant reasons. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to just end it all, but something inside her kept her alive, and she wasn't entirely sure what it was either.

As she sat drinking her coffee, she contemplated this. Wasn't it suppose be so much easier to just be dead? What was driving her to continue on like this? Turning toward the window she watched as the rain pelted down on the city. Great, she was going to have to walk home in that in about five minutes if she wanted to get home on time.

Sighing heavily she watched as people ran up and down the streets trying to get to their destinations. Some with rain coats and some toughing it out with an umbrella that wasn't really doing any good in this excessively hard rain. But that was when she noticed something. Across the street a man stood in a black rain coat. He seemed decently tall and most of his features were covered up by the hood of his jacket covering his face.

Quickly looking away feeling awkward, she decided it was probably smart if she started her adventure home before the rain could get possibly any worst. She stood up from the stool she was perched on and straightened her uniform, putting on her coat, and threw away her coffee cup. As she walked outside feeling the icy, resilient rain hitting her skin, she could've sworn she could hear someone laughing. Looking back the man was still staring at her, only now his shoulders were trembling almost as if he was the one laughing. Quickly, without looking back this time, she pushed her way through the rain on her way home.

~  
He didn't really know what it was about her. Granted, she was drop dead gorgeous in his eyes. Anyone could tell that much with her soft, long blond hair that flowed down to her waist like silk and beautifully translucent skin that had a slight tinge rosiness to it. She represented an angel in his eyes, being beautiful and soft as she was. But she had a certain quality about her that attracted him like no other, but he really couldn't pin point exactly what it was.

He wasn't sure if it was her show stopping beauty, though he's killed beautiful girls before, or something more about her. He felt like she would be able to understand him better than anyone else ever had. Though that was a completely ridiculous notion considering no 'sane' person would ever be able to understand anything about him. At least none have been able to yet.

Another thing that confused him was that she was shy and quiet which was nothing like what usually caught his interest before. He himself was loud, charismatic, and constantly laughing all of the time, which was what made this ironic to him. But something gave him the feeling that that wasn't truly who she was, just a cover that had to be peeled off like a mask. He had a feeling she was much more interesting than she herself was letting on. But one thing he was sure of was that she was his. And he was going to find out what it was about her that he seemed to be attracted to so much.

"Hello gorgeous, my names Jerome," he said to himself with a gleeful, comedic smile.


	2. Chapter One

Natalie sat in a small booth near the back of a small and comfortable diner looking out the window. She had a glass of water next to her and she had just ordered a helping of her favorite comfort food, chili cheese fries. She decided that since she had about another ten minutes or so before she had to get home, she'd stop at one of her favorite places to eat. Although she was slowly beginning to regret it now. As winter was slowly approaching daylight hours were slowly beginning to get shorter and shorter, and if there was one thing to not do in Gotham, it was stay out after dark.

"You just going to sit there and let your fries get cold doll face?" a voice asked her pulling her out of her thoughts making her jump.

Looking up she saw a boy that looked about her age. He was tall and lean with skin just as pale as hers and dark red hair that was messily gelled back. He was also wearing a gray trench coat over a nice button up shirt. So overall, he looked very... nice, for lack of a better word. But the most defining thing she noticed the most was the gleeful smile stretched across his face and the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry," she said sliding a little bit away from him in her seat. She then pulled her legs up to her chest and looked down at her fries feeling awkward. She didn't really know what to do in social situations anymore, which is why she usually tended to avoid them when she could.

"Hey gorgeous, you going to make me stand here all day or am I going to have to invite myself to sit with you?" he asked.

Looking up at him with eyes slightly widened. It's been a long time since anyone has tired to converse with her. Most people in Gotham now seemed to know she wasn't much of a talkative person and hadn't really bothered to try anymore to strike up a conversation. But not knowing what to do she just asked in a small, polite voice, "Would you like to sit with me?"

"Why don't mind if I do gorgeous!" He answered very animatedly, his already big smile seeming to brighten even more as he plopped down in the seat across from her. "So what's a pretty girl like you doing having dinner all alone?" He questioned leaning over the table and setting the side of his face into the palm of his hand.

"I got hungry after I finished my homework," Natalie explained looking down with a pink flush covering her cheeks. She wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or not, though there was no doubt he was flirting with her, usually the guys at school only did it when it's some sick dare to go hit on the 'freak' who never talks to anyone.

But what surprised her the most was how he broke into a cackle when she finished talking; she wasn't trying to be funny. "I like you," he stated joyfully, but then his face abruptly turned more serious and he put his hands back in his lap. "But what I meant was what are you doing going around Gotham alone at this time of day? It's starting to get dark and a pretty girl like you shouldn't be wandering around without a friend to help protect you in this city. I wouldn't want anything bad happening to you," he warned slowly shaking his head. She was noticing how he seems to get very animated when he talks, even when he's not acting as excited and as energetic as he was only a minute ago.

But what he said shocked her and she didn't really know what to make of the words that were coming out of his mouth. Here was this guy she's never met before and he seemed to be insisting that her cared for here safety in some way and something about the way he was saying it actually seemed genuine. Not knowing what else to do, she answered honestly.

"I don't have any friends," she responded looking down. "So I wouldn't have anyone to help protect me anyway," she stated.

"I could help protect you," he concluded seriously, staring straight into her eyes.

She honestly didn't know what to say to that so she tried to simply brush it off. "It's not that big of a deal. Anyway what good could you do against someone who's a murderer?" she asked jokingly. She honestly expected Jerome to break out in laughter, as he had done earlier, but instead just got a small chuckle with a smirk. It seemed almost as if he found some sort of irony in that statement.

"You'd be surprised at what I could do gorgeous," he stated simply, but then his face abruptly changed into one of shock. "I must have forgotten my manners! I've never asked for your name gorgeous," he admitted in mock horror. "My names Jerome by the way," he added

She giggled at his theatrics, which of course brought back his amazing, white smile. He made just a normal conversation so exciting with the ways he expressed his emotions. "It's fine," she assured with a smile spreading across my face. "My name's Natalie, Natalie Garner," she stated.

"Oh, you're the daughter of that politician right? Robert Garner?" He asked curiously tilting his head slightly sideways.

"Sadly," she mumbled under her breath. Then her eyes widened realizing something. "Shit!" she cursed before quickly standing up and throwing some money on the table. "I'm so sorry Jerome, but I really have to go!" she stated in a hurry. Throwing coat on quickly she rushed toward the door of the restaurant.

"Natalie what's wrong?" Jerome asked, his smile fading as he looked at me. At the moment it looked like his confident persona suddenly faded. Now he seemed more soft spoken and even slightly shy, it even seemed like his voice changed a little bit.

Sighing, feeling bad, she turned back toward him. "Nothing's wrong Jerome, I just really need to get home. Maybe we can meet each other here again tomorrow or something," she reassured him. She did really want to meet him again, she hasn't truly enjoyed herself like this in a long time.

Jerome's face brightened a little more. "Could I walk you home?" he asked.

Natalie's eyes widened a little bit. All hell would break loose if her father saw her walking home with Jerome. Her night was already going to be that much worst off since she was late, but if she got caught with Jerome she would probably be at the very least hospitalized the next day.

"No you can't Jerome!" she blurted out, fear filling her voice.

Jerome's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and... maybe suspicion? Natalie couldn't really tell. "Why not?" he asked seeing her worry.

She looked at him and she honestly didn't know how to answer that. She knew the truth was out of the question, but she never really had to make excuses before. No one really ever cared enough to ask what was going on with her home life. So she did the only thing she could think of at the time. She ran out of the store.

The streets had gotten a lot darker after the time she's spent with Jerome. She ran as fast as she could around vacant buildings, the only noise was her shoes scraping against the concrete. Her breathing became heavy and her legs were aching as she ran and she was still a few minutes away from her home. But then she was abruptly stopped by a hand grabbing her tightly by the elbow.

"Hey little lady, where do you think you're going?"


	3. Chapter Two

Natalie turned and saw an unkempt middle aged man. His hair looked like a birds nest and his clothes were very dirty and had holes scattered all over the place. He looked her up and down in a very disgusting, perverted way making her feel vulnerable and violated. "What's a pretty lady like you doing out at a time like this?" He asked yanking her toward him as a sleazy smile spread across his face.

"Let go of me!" Natalie screamed trying to pull her arm away from him. But the man was much larger and stronger than her so she was hardly even able to make him budge.

"Now don't be like that little lady. We wouldn't want anyone to hear you now would we?" The man joked sickly as he shoved her up against the chilling brick wall of a building and covered her mouth with his callused, repulsive hands. Chuckling as she struggled against him, he continued to force himself onto her.

"She said to get off of her," Natalie heard. She instantly recognized the voice as Jerome, but in some way he sounded completely different. Of course his voice had been not as furious sounding as it was now, but even the tone of his voice seemed to change. Right now it sounded so much more deeper and almost raspy sounding. It make him seem so much more threatening and dangerous right now than he had in the restaurant.

"What are you going to do about it boy?" Tested my attacker. Suddenly, Natalie heard laughter. Again this was completely different from the gleeful laugh he sported in the beginning of the day. It sounded so evil, manacle even. Some how he manage to make it sound so scary that goosebumps rose on Natalie's skin out of fear.

"You'd be surprised at what I could do," he said quoting his line from earlier in his same deep, raspy voice.

Natalie felt a pang in fear in her gut. She didn't want a fight to break out, she was afraid that Jerome would get hurt if it did. So she did the first thing that came to her mind.

"Ouch! You little bitch," screamed the man as Natalie bit into his hand. The disgusting taste of iron filled her mouth as her teeth broke through layers of skin.

The next thing she felt was an acute, agonizing pain in the left half of her face. She could taste her own blood in her mouth and she was suddenly falling from the force of the hit. The last thing she remembered feeling was a sharp, stabbing pain in her head as she delved into the concrete.

Jerome was more furious than he could ever remember being. He doesn't even remember being this angry at his whore of a mother after she and her sex partners spent the evening beating him. But it was like he was seeing red as he watched as his beautiful Natalie fall to the ground after being hit by this repulsive excuse for a man. He was already planning on how he was going to kill this man, but now he didn't care so much so for the showmanship of it. At this point he just wanted it to be long and agonizing. In his head the only upside to Natalie being passed out on the concrete currently is now he doesn't have to censor anything he is about to say or do.

"Do you want to know what makes me angry?" Jerome asked in his sickeningly dark, sinister voice, tilting his head slightly off to the side as if he was actually expecting an answer.

As the man was turning his body toward him, Jerome slipped a small, clean knife out of a pocket on the inside of his jacket. When the man was fully facing him, he quickly stabbed the man deeply in his side, and surprisingly the man didn't scream at first, just staring at Jerome with a look of shock and disbelief. Jerome wouldn't have cared if he did scream, he would've probably actually preferred it and had gotten pleasure out of it. Though it would have attracted attention, considering this was Gotham, this was pretty much a normal experience for all of the citizens. They just try not to get involved and try to ignore what's going on just outside their doorsteps.

"When people touch what's mine."

As the man began to hunch his body forward in pain, with a flick of the wrist, Jerome twisted the knife in the man's side. The man's screams were ones that made you blood run cold and your heart stop beating, though for Jerome, he was savoring every minute of it. He enjoyed the sight of the man's mouth turning ridged and being stuck open as he wheezed through the searing pain that coursed throughout his body. You could watch and see as the man's face became more pale as the blood drained from his face and onto the solid, cold concrete.

"Want to know what makes me even angrier?" Jerome was now almost nose to nose with the man at this point, still holding the knife firmly into the man's side. The man tried to push back at Jerome to try and escape from him. Though because of the blood loss, his arms were much weaker, rendering him useless against Jerome although he was a lot more bulky and bigger than him.

Letting go of the knife, Jerome wrapped his hand around the man's neck and shoved him as harshly as he could up against the wall causing his head to smash into the rough, solid brick. Jerome felt great pleasure in putting this man into a similar position to the one that Natalie had been in just moments ago. He wanted this man to feel all the fear that she was feeling and more. Although Jerome realized he was actually going to have to hurry up if he wanted to finish in time, the man's body was becoming more lax up against him and his head was beginning to fall of to the side.

Slapping the man lightly a few time on the side side of the cheek as if he was trying to wake the man, Jerome stated, "Hey pops, I'm not done! Don't die on me yet." Then Jerome put a finger to his chin. "Where was I?" he asked himself before continuing. "Oh right," he added with a smile before his facial expression abruptly changed to a frown. "Want to know what makes me even angrier?" Jerome asked once again staring into the man's eyes, watching as they were beginning to glaze over. Jerome tightened his grip on the man's throat, restricting his breathing. The man began to make small choking noises, satisfying him.

"When people hurt the few things that I care about," Jerome added before crushing the man throat with him hand. The man made one last noise before sagging into Jerome's body, finally dead. Pleased with his work, Jerome laughed before yanking the bloodied knife out of the corpse and letting it fall to the ground.

Turning back towards Natalie, Jerome sat down onto the cement and gently put his coat around her to protect her from the cold, night air. He stared down at her, his eyes softening immediately, all of the blood lust and hatred instantly left his features. His hand reached out and softly stroked her face, trying to get her soft, silky hair out of it. He decided he really liked how her hair felt in between his fingers. Natalie stirred a little, and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Shhh," Jerome hushed running his hand across her cheek trying to sooth her back to sleep. "It's okay, I'll take care of you," Jerome mumbled in a sweet, soft voice as he picked her up carefully, trying to not jostle her to much. In his arms, Natalie's head lolled off to the side, laying on his shoulder. He could feel her soft, warm breath up against his neck sending wonderful chills down his spine. She gave him so many wonderful feelings he's never experienced and he was loving every second of it. Even with blood and bruises covering her face she was still perfect in his eyes.

Jerome wasn't sure what to do though now. The selfish part of him wanted to sweep her up, which he already did, and keep her all for himself. But the part of him that was worried for what Natalie would want was telling him that she would want him to take her _home_. Even that part though was still suspicious. 'Wouldn't be a little suspicious though if I took her home when I shouldn't even know where she lives yet though?' Jerome thought, reasoning with himself. Agreeing with himself, Jerome decided that the best thing he could do was take her to back to where he was staying at Theo's place.

Natalie felt comfortable for once when she woke up. Although she had a headache and her cheek was sore, it wasn't nearly as bad as how she would usually wake up after one of her fathers beatings. But then last nights events rushed at her like a freight train. She sat up in the bed abruptly, noticing that the room looked nothing like her own, which frightened her. And the fact that she was dressing in a set of comfortable, pink pajamas wasn't helping with that feeling at all.

Quickly jumping out of the bed she looked around. Such quick movements made her vision blurry and her head hurt worst but she needed to at least try to hide. Her heart was pumping like crazy and her breathing was also becoming uneven in fear. What are you suppose to do when you get kidnapped? Frankly, Natalie had no idea. Then Natalie remembered something and gasped.

What happened to Jerome? Tears welled in her eyes at the idea of his being injured or dead right now. She really cared about him. It may have been such a short amount of time since she met him, yesterday to be exact, but he made her feel so much better than anyone else has ever been able to do in her life. It was almost like..."

"Oh honey!" Jerome sang sarcastically as he walked through one of the two doors connected to this bed room, holding a small white box.

"Jerome!" Natalie yelled running up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Relief instantly filled her knowing that he was okay.

"Wow, what a nice well home present sweet cheeks. What's the occasion?" Jerome asked shining a huge smile as her.

"You're okay!" she answered nestling her head on his shoulder and hugging him even tighter.

"Of course I am. I told you you'd be surprised at what I could do, didn't I?" He stated with an amused laugh before hugging her tightly back as well.


	4. Chapter Three

*****Having Barbara take over the big sister roll for Natalie, I think she's a little out of character but don't think it's anything to bad.**

Once Natalie pulled away from the hug, she then realized something that horrified her.

"Um, Jerome," She asked nervously looking down, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Yes, gorgeous?"

"Please tell me you didn't change my clothes," She inquired gesturing to the unfamiliar set of baby pink pajamas she was wearing. It wasn't so much so the fact that he'd seen her naked, though that still wasn't ideal by any means, but she really didn't want him to see the bruises that her father has inflicted on her. She was embarrassed and ashamed of them and she didn't want anyone else to ever have to see them. They showed that she was unlovable in her eyes, that not even her own father could love her. If he didn't, how could anyone else?

"No I did," a new voice answered. "I knew you probably wouldn't be happy with ginger here sneaking a peek at you while you were asleep." Natalie looked over to see a beautiful blonde women had walked into the room. She had curly, blonde hair, wide, blue eyes, and nicely tanned skin. Natalie instantly felt intimidated by her, not only because she deemed her to be a lot prettier than she was, but also because in a way she knew her secret that she's been trying to hide for so long. Granted, she still had no idea where the bruises came from or who inflicted them, she still had to be suspicious about them either way though. "My name's Barbara," she introduced, giving Natalie a kind smile.

"Natalie," she acknowledged nodding her head before once again looking away awkwardly.

"Jerome, Theo wants to see you and the others in his office," Barbara stated giving him a knowing look and nodding her head towards the door.

Jerome groaned and made a show of rolling his eyes and throwing his head back in irritation. "I'll be back soon Natalie, or hopefully at least," he added before leaving the room.

Now being alone with Barbara, Natalie felt even more uncomfortable. "You saw them didn't you?" Natalie whispered looking straight ahead from Barbara. Her arms were wrapped around herself as if trying to hold herself together.

"Ya," Barbara stated simply.

"Please don't tell anyone," Natalie asked in a whisper, tears welling in her eyes and her voice trembling a little.

"Who did it and how long has it been going on?" Barbara questioned crossing arms over her chest and moving a little closer to Natalie with Jerome gone now.

Natalie hesitated. She didn't know if she could tell her, but honestly what choice did she really have. If she didn't she could tell anyone about the bruises covering her body, including Jerome. "My dad, since I was ten or eleven, when my mom cheated on him," Natalie answered reluctantly.

"I won't tell anyone," Barbara affirmed walking over the rest of the way over to Natalie and taking both of her hands and rubbing her thumbs over the backs of them comfortingly. "But it's something you should really tell the ginger. As annoying as he can be at times, he's probably one of the only people who will understand what your going through right now," she proposed.

"No, no, no," Natalie stammered, pulling her hands out of Barbara's and taking a few steps back. "Jerome doesn't need to hear about my daddy problems. And it's not even that bad, most of the time it's my fault for not following the rules on accident or reminding him to much of my mother when he's drunk," She reasoned as a tear fell down the side of her face and she wrapped her arms back around herself.

"None of what he ever does to you is your fault," Barbara scolded her. "There should never be a reason for a father to hit his own daughter," she continued, before guiding Natalie to sit over on the bed and then kneeling in front of her. "I want you to tell Jerome, not only because he understands what you're going through, but because he can help you recover from it and set you free," she clarified, looking into Natalie's eyes and placing her hands on her knees.

Natalie stared back at Barbara. She could tell she was being genuine with her and seemed like she really wanted to help her. "I don't know if I exactly feel comfortable telling him yet," she mumbled.

Barbara sighed, "You don't have to do it right away, it's just something to think about," then she smiled at her. "How about we go do something fun to get your mind off things?" She added before standing up and pulling Natalie up as well.

"Can we bake cookies?" Natalie asked with a smile breaking loose onto her face. When she was younger she and her mom always baked cookies together, which was one of the main reasons she never got to do it anymore. Her main goal at home was to remind her dad of her mom as little as possible so baking cookies is never really an option.

"Sure whatever you want," Barbara stated before leading her to the kitchen.

Natalie noticed how big this place was once they got out of the bedroom they were staying in. It seemed to be a giant, fancy apartment, similar to the ones most of Gotham's famous bachelors own. Although, it seemed to be made for about ten people, which confused her because beside her and Barbara, there didn't seem to be anyone else here.

"Shouldn't there be more people living here Barbara?"

"The boys are out. They get pretty obnoxious this time of day so they go out and do something to burn some steam," Barbara stated with a smirk seeming to be almost laughing at one of her own jokes.

She lead Natalie the rest of the way to the kitchen to bake cookies and that was basically how the next few hours went. They ended up accidentally burning the first batch of cookies when they got to deep into conversation and they talked about any unimportant things that came to mind. That was until Barbara asked the one question Natalie didn't really know how to answer.

"So, you and Ginger?" She said with a suggesting nudge into Natalie's side.

Natalie's face broke out into a bright red blush and she could feel her heart pump unevenly at the mention of Jerome. Scratching the side of her head,trying to cover the redness of her cheeks, she mumbled, "What about us? There isn't really much to say."

Snorting Barbara gave her a look, "As if, you wouldn't be blushing right now if that were true!"

"What do you want me to tell you? I mean maybe something could happen, but highly doubt it. We just met yesterday and things are complicated right now in my life. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to go jumping head first into a relationship with anyone anyways," Natalie deterred feeling awkward talking about this. It was true, she did really like Jerome but she would only be putting him in danger with her father still around.

Barbara rolled her eyes at her, "He likes you, you like him. What's so complicated about that? I'm surprised the ginger was able to keep from kidnapping you all the way up until this point," Barbara stated seriously.

Natalie, not taking her statement for its literal meaning, giggled a little as if it were a joke. "Jerome would never do that, he's to much of a gentleman," she mumbled blushing.

Barbara gave her a quizzical look, "are you sure we're talking about the same ginger here?"

Natalie nodded before looking over at the clock on the oven and sighed. "I really need to get home."

"Aw, but gorgeous, I just got back!" Jerome complained as he walked into the kitchen with an exaggerated pout on his face. He had an odd outfit on, there were black buckles running down the entire front and in a way resembled a straight jacket. Natalie raised her eyebrows and gestured toward his strange outfit. "What? I was playing dress up with the guys. Don't you like it?" He said sarcastically with an exuberant laugh.

Shaking her head at his silliness, Natalie returned to the subject. "I really need to go though. I was suppose to be home yesterday night and it's now four P.M. the next day," she stated wincing a little bit. Tonight's beating was going to be a hell of a lot worse and that fact made a fearful chill run down her spine.

Barbara noticed her fears and her face hardened but luckily she didn't say anything.

"But gorgeous, I could just keep you here so you would never have to leave," Jerome remarked throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him. The both of them thought about the irony of the statement. Natalie was thinking about the conversation she had just had with Barbara just moments ago. Although, Jerome was thinking about how she was probably thinking he was joking, when really he was being honest for once.

"Jerome, I'm not just some pet you can keep. Besides I do really need to get home. Barbara do you have any other clothes I can barrow so I'm not walking home in pajamas?" She asked looking back at Barbara, who's face still had a tight-lipped expression.

"In the bathroom on the counter," she simply stated.

As Natalie left the room, Barbara immediately turned towards Jerome. "We're killing her father."


	5. Chapter Four

Jerome exploded into his signature evil laugh, holding onto his stomach from the strength of it, but then he abruptly stopped giving Barbara a bored look. "As much fun as that sounds, I'm not sure Natalie is ready for that yet. So I think I'll have to take a pass." He replied turning towards the door.

"What would you do if I told you she needed you to, to protect her?" Barbara stated putting her hands on her hips.

It was also as if you could see Jerome's ear perk up when he heard that. "I'm listening," he said as he turned his head back towards her. He plopped down in the chair next to Barbara and interlaced his fingers in front of his body, like he was negotiating a deal. "So how exactly is killing Natalie's father going to protect her?" He questioned.

"I think you know already Jerome," Barbara hinted tilting her head slightly to the side with a small smile on her face. She only promised not _tell_ Jerome about her daddy issues not hint to them.

Jerome's face blanked for just a moment and as his brain weaved through the possibilities. Finally he stopped at one and immediately his voice turned menacing and raspy once again as it did before with Natalie's attacker. "Do you mean..." he trailed off looking at Barbara as she nodded her head. "I'm in."

As she suspected, she had gotten it when she made it home. She withered in pain as she lied in her bed, curled in the fetal position. Tears steamed like a river down her face as she remembered all the physical and emotional pain she has endured last night. She didn't know what made this time seem so much worst than all of the others though.

Usually her tears would be dried by now and she would be getting cleaned up and ready for bed. But tonight it felt like she couldn't even get up, like her own body was a heavy block that didn't want to move. The only noise she was making was small whimpers of pain and sadness as she clung to her pillow as if she was a child clinging to their favorite stuffed animal. She felt weak and small, like she did when she was ten years old and her father started hurting her. She didn't like this feeling. She wanted to feel safe and warm again, like how she felt when she was little. Like how Jerome made her feel.

She didn't know what it was about him. Maybe it started from the time when he saved her from the middle-aged man on the streets of Gotham, or even the way he wrapped his arms so securely around her in the hug they had shared earlier. She remembered how strong he felt, and how warm and comfortable that had made her feel. She missed that, she wanted that back so badly.

But right now her world felt so cold and painful, almost unbearable. So she stayed curled in her tight, little ball with her arms wound around the pour pillow as her finger nails dug into it's fabric. And then she forced herself to shut her eyes and wished for all the pain she was suffering right now, physical and emotional, to disappear.

 _Natalie was currently standing across from Jerome in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. It was almost like there was no setting, just a light gray background cast behind them, bellow them, and above them. He was just standing there, staring at her with all the love and affection she's ever seen. She almost had to look behind her, just to double check to make sure there wasn't anyone standing there that he was actually staring at, even though her and Jerome were the only ones so far to be found in this strange dream. Natalie turned back to Jerome. She wasn't exactly sure what she was meant to do here so she observed him similarly to what he seemed to be doing with her._

 _First, she noticed the thing everyone seems to notice about Jerome, his unique, fire, red hair. Although, it seemed slightly different. Instead of being messily slicked back as she has seen before, it was neatly parted off to the side and slicked back with just a little gel to keep it out of his face. Next she noticed how his jaw seemed to be very angular but the rest of his features seemed soft on his face. Even the small smile he was wearing as he looked at her seemed to be gentle. And then his eyes, his beautiful blue-green eyes seemed to be staring at her with the same expression as before, still full of affection._

 _"Natalie," Jerome seemed to be calling to her._

 _Almost on their own accord Natalie's feet seemed to be moving towards him. When she was standing in front of him, Jerome wrapped his arms securely around her small frame. She placed her cheek up against his chest and held him as well, feeling the thump of his heart under her delicate, translucent skin. She's never felt so much tenderness and care in her life and she would have been content to be stuck her for another hour if she could stay like this with him._

 _Of course, that didn't happen though._

 _The dream seemed to flash for a second and it was as if someone had pressed the reset button and she was back in the exact same position she started in. The setting seemed exactly the same, only this time there seemed to be an eerie black smoke that covered the gray background around them, almost like in horror movies. She looked over at Jerome afraid, which surprisingly didn't help to comfort her at all like it did before. In this version of the dream, he practically was her worst nightmare._

 _The first major difference was his smile, this one she didn't like at all. It was pulled back, ear to ear, as far as it would go, it almost seemed as if his face would crack if it was any larger. It was maniacal and horrifying, she has never seen anything like it. His smile, this time, seemed to have the opposite effect in this version of the dream. Instead of making her calmer and giving her a warm, comforting feeling, it made her skin crawl and her stomach turn unhappily. Another big difference, and perhaps the most horrifying one for her was his eyes. His head seemed tilted forward a little bit and it seemed he was staring at her just below his eyebrows almost, which didn't help make him seem any friendlier. His eyes themselves, his beautiful blue-green eyes, held the most malevolent, unpleasant stare she's ever seen on anyone._

 _And just like in the other dream she looked behind her to make sure that horrifying stare was for her. This time it wasn't, which made her feel some what relieved, but at the same time confused._

 _Behind her was a women who almost seemed like the exact opposite of Natalie. The women had short, dark, brown hair, tan skin, and had curves that seemed to be in all the right places of her body. Where as Natalie had long, blonde hair, fair, porcelain skin, and had a lot less curve to her body than the other women. She also noticed the women's attire, it seemed to be something straight out of the circus, maybe a dancer of sorts? Natalie wasn't really sure._

 _Natalie stepped out of the way and Jerome didn't even seem to notice her presents this time, as if she was invisible to him in this dream. Why was Jerome staring at that women like that though? 'What had she done to him to make him hate her so much?' she wondered in her head._

 _Suddenly, Jerome seemed to pull a hatchet out of nowhere and the women's and Natalie's eyes widen. Both women watch as Jerome stalked toward the dancer quickly and right before he was about to strike her down Natalie yelled, "Jerome don't!"_

Natalie shot out of her bed, only to suddenly feel all the aches and stinging sensations from all the bruises and possible fractures she had gained from the night before. Her face felt chalky from the dried tears from last night she didn't clean from her face, as well as the feeling of wet streaks of new tears making their ventures down her face. Wiping them away quickly, she got out of bed and limped around her room to get ready this morning. But she was abruptly stopped when she heard a knocking on the front door. Knowing her dad, he would still be to hung over to get it this early in the morning, so she sighed and made her way towards the front door.

"GCPD! Open up!" she heard through the thick door as she got closer to it. Quickly opening the door, she saw two detectives standing before her.

"Hello detectives, what seems to be the problem?" she asked confused.

"We're just here on a call, some of your neighbors said they heard screaming last night from this house. Would you happen to know anything about that?" Asked the detective with the name tag that said Jim Gordon on it.

"Not that I know of, I got home around five o'clock and went to bed around eight o'clock I believe. I didn't wake up from any screaming last night though if there was any," Natalie stated feeling nervous. She was wondering if during her father's beating she accidentally got a little to loud or if the nightmare she had could have caused it possibly.

"Do you mind if we have a look around?" asked the other officer who seemed to not believe her for what ever reason. Maybe he saw her nervousness and had mistaken it for some sort of guilt.

Natalie stepped aside to let the two detectives into the house. The only thing at the time she was worried about was them finding her hung over father somewhere in the house. But what they did end up finding was much worst.

"Gordon, I found a body!" yelled the other detective as he went into my father's study. Detective Gordon quickly made his way over and Natalie followed him close behind in confusion. When they made their way into the study Natalie saw her father dead, his blood splattered on the walls and a kitchen knife firmly impaled into his eye.


	6. Chapter Five

*****Sorry this took so long to upload. I had a lot of tests in school this week which is why it took so long.**

Upon learning about her father's death, Natalie's never felt more liberated. She was no longer worried about being beaten every night and she wasn't worried about people seeing the residual bruises from her father's beatings. So, in a sense, she felt free. In fact, as she stared at his dead body she began to cry. But not in sadness, in gratitude. She found herself feeling grateful to who ever killed him. Though they could have gotten rid of the body, they helped her do what she wished she could have long ago, get her father out of her life. Granted there could have been better methods to do so besides murder, like how she was waiting until the day she was eighteen so he would no longer have custody over her, but she wasn't going to be picky.

Of course after her father's death there was also the suspicion that came with it, which made her feel less free. She had spent countless, needless hours being interrogated by investigators, all of them pointing their fingers at her. Although, it was all in vein due to the fact that they have come up with little to no evidence so far besides the fact that she was in the house. She was actually kind of impressed by how well who ever this is pulled it off, it was definitely someone with experience.

Any how, besides that, since her fathers death which was two weeks ago, she had gotten a lot closer to Jerome and Barbara. Barbara was becoming like a big sister to her and Jerome was quickly becoming someone more than a friend. Lately, he's been a lot more affectionate towards her, not that she minded much. She has slowly began to become more and more attracted to him, with his personality and appearance.

He was so wonderful and kind to her and she loved how often he laughed and the way he did it as if he didn't have a care in the world. His nicknames for her, like gorgeous and sweet cheeks, never failed to make her cheeks turn bright pink and he would always laugh for a second at how cute she was. The way he looked at her always made her feel a little self conscious though, as if she felt didn't deserve the way his eyes gazed at her so adoringly when he thought she wasn't looking. He never failed to make her feel like she was the most important thing in his world, even though it was true because he didn't really have anyone else. She felt so protected and cared for by him, and maybe she would even go as far as saying loved, which was something she has been lacking in her life for a very long time.

But the only thing that Natalie couldn't get out of her head was the dream she had before finding out about her father's death. Granted it was just a dream which meant it didn't mean anything, or so Natalie thought at the time, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. She had wondered why Jerome had killed her in her dream? Why did he have such a hate filled glare for the women and what did she do to cause it? She had had so many unanswered questions at the time, and she felt silly for dwelling so harshly on them. 'They were just dreams they don't mean anything,' she had thought to herself over and over again.

"You know sweet cheeks, people might just start thinking your crazy if you keep getting lost in your head like that," Jerome stated leaning close to Natalie face, snapping her back into reality. She was at the dinner she and Jerome had met at and he was sitting across from her. It was once again nearly empty considering it was nearing towards closing time.

"I'm done caring about what other people are thinking," she groaned before putting her head in her arms. It was true, it was becoming sickening to have to pretend to be the devastated daughter after her father's death.

"I know how you feel, you know," he stated leaning in closer to her. When Natalie looked up again, he was nearly touching noses with her.

Her eyebrows scrunched up, forming a look of confusion on her face. "What do you mean Jerome?"

He looked at her with a meaningful look, one that made her feel vulnerable, not in a bad way though. In a way that made her feel like he knew what was going on and what was bothering her, no matter how hard she was trying to hide it. "Did I ever tell you that before I lived in Gotham permanently, I was part of the circus? Not part of any of the acts, but my mother was a snake dancer." He took one of Natalie's hands and began to play with it, using both of his hands to gently caress it and glide over it. It was almost like he was trying to comfort her as he told the story. Which was working, she wasn't sure why but when ever she was in contact with Jerome she felt warm and safe. But, Natalie felt curious as well, he had never talked about his mother before and definitely not much about his past at all.

"During the Spring the circus went through Kansas City right around my ninth birthday," he stated looking down at her hand. "My mom met this guy there and they used to drink a lot together." He took her hand, holding it firmly in his, intertwining their fingers. "They had just finished round one of boozing, boning, and beating up Jerome and were deciding to take a little break," he said calmly, looking into Natalie's eyes. Natalie gasped in shock covering her mouth with her hand. Tears welled in her eyes slightly in anger, the idea of anyone hurting Jerome gave her a very bitter feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Jerome I wish I could tell you that I knew what you were going through, but," Natalie replied, trying to be reassuring, but she was cut off.

"Don't you though?" Jerome interjected. He tilted his head to the side and stared at her skeptically for a moment. "Since I met you, I've never seen you show any of your skin until more recently. Even your face would be covered in layers of makeup until a few days ago. You hardly even grieved your father's death for a day and the day we first met I remember how you seemed so afraid of being late just to get home. Not to mention how you refused to let me walk you home which might as well be the equivalent of a big, neon sign for all the criminals to come and get you. And you've still failed to explain why you would rather do that then let me walk you home," Jerome stated.

Natalie's eyes widened, she didn't realize that he paid so much attention to those details before. No one else really gave much thought to those things before, but then again Natalie guessed that other people just didn't really care. It was clear he knew at this point and it seemed pointless to even try to deny it at this point. "He was really angry at me after I came home," she whispered taking her hands from his and putting them in her lap and she downcast her eyes as well.

"He deserved what he got, just like my whore of a mother," Jerome stated. Natalie looked up, her dream flashing in the back of her mind. Then she remembered from a few months ago, Jerome was on the news. He had killed his mother with a hatchet and they actually sent him to the asylum because of it. She couldn't believe she didn't recognize him the day she met him.

"You killed my father didn't you?" she asked in realization her eyes widening ever so slightly and her voice cracking a little.

Jerome nodded his head silently across from her, a smile spreading across his face. "You're smart Natalie, that's one of the things I like about you," he stated.

Tears welled in Natalie's eyes as she began to cry. She moved to the side that Jerome was sitting on a wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Tears leaked from her eyes as she shoved her face into his shoulder and her voice was brittle as she mumbled quiet 'thank you's into him. Jerome just held onto her with a wide, wicked smile spread across his face.


End file.
